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(No Model.)

R. S. LAKIN.

TOOTH BRUSH.

No. 334,729. Patented Jan. 19, 1886.

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STATES IINTTn ATnNT Trice.

RINALDO S. ILAKIN, OF BOSTON, ASSIGNOR TO SOLOMON S. HIGGINS, OF SOMERVILLE, MASS.

TOOTH-BRUSH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 334,729, dated January 19, 1886.

Serial No. 77,224. (No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, RINALDo S. LAKIN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Tooth-Brushes; and I do hereby declare that the same are fully described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

The object of this invention is to provide a travelers toothbrush having within its handle a supply of a powdered dentifrice, and also to provide for ready delivery of the powder to the brush, in orderthat the article may contain in itself all that is necessary to daily care for the teeth and be most compact and convenient.

The drawings represent the several features of my invention, Figure l being a side view of an ordinary brush provided with the receptacle for dentifrice. Figs. 2 and 3 are longitudinal sections showing the brush hinged, one view representing it closed and the other open; and Fig. 4 is a modification in which the brush-head is detachable for folding.

A is the handle, having at one end a cavity, a, adapted to receive and retain a supply of the dentifrice sufficient for severaldays use. The outer end of this cavity is closed by a cap, O, preferably made to screw in or on the end of the handle, so that the powder maybe readily introduced and retained or as readily removed, wholly or in part. A delivery-orifice may be formed in the cap for discharge of a small portion of the dentifrice into the hand or otherwise for immediate use, and any suitable means of closing such orifice may be provided. A small plug, c, is shown in Fig. l.

B is the brush-head, mounted at-the other end of the handle and preferably pivoted at D, as shown, so as to fold when not in use into a recess, b, formed in the handle to receive it. The parts will usually be so proportioned that but a thin partition, E, shall separatevthe spaces a and b, and the neck or stem of the brush is received when folded in a depression extending from the pivot D to the recess l. The back of the stem and brush- A stiff spring, H, is provided at the joint D to hold the brush steadily when open for use or to retain it closed. This spring is shown as integral with the handle of the brush, and is best formed by cutting two parallel slits longitudinally from the hinge end ofthe handle and coincident with the nalls of the depression into which the stem of the brush folds.

I arrange for delivery of a limited portion of the dentifrice direct to the folded brush by forming an orifice, F, in the partition E, and I close said orifice by any convenient means. The device illustrated for this purpose is a tapering plug, G, having a limited sliding movement, and operated by an external projection, g, so as to open or close the orice F, as will be understood. In this way a little of the powder from cavity a may be thrown upon the brush while in the recess I), and the discharge-orifice then closed.

In the modification shown in Fig. 4t the brush is not hinged, but its fiat tapering stem is inserted in a corresponding socket, from which it is removable to fold into the recess b, where it is held in closed position by a sliding ring, I.

I design to make my improved articles mainly ot' hard rubber, Celluloid, or other material readily molded to form; but they may be of ivory, bone, or wood.

I am aware that folding tooth-brushes are old, and that non-folding stencil and marking brushes have been devised with hollow handles to contain the liquid and valves to deliver the same during use. I am also aware of the patent to Snell, dated May 29, IS7 7, for a tooth-brush,not folding, having a valve and a perforated shank through which a liquid dentifrice in the handle is fed to the roots of the bristles; but such device could not beused with tooth-powder, and no end cap is provided for insertion of such powder, as contemplated in my improvement, in which the brush-shank or stein is solid.

I claim as my inventionl. Afolding toothbrush having in its handle a receptacle for tooth-powder and provided with a removable end cap, in combination with a feeding device, substantially as described, permitting delivery of the dentiffice to the brush, substantially as set forth.

IOO

2. A folding` tooth-brush having in its lmn- H,formed in one with the handle, in combinanv 1o dle a receptacle for tooth-powder and protion with the brush-head Ehinged at Dto the vided with a removable end cap, in eomhinahandle, substantially as set forth. l tion with a tapering' sliding` plug` Serving to In testimony whereof I hereto aiix my sig- 5 close the aperture from the receptacle to the nature in presence of two witnesses.

brush-recess, for the purpose set forth. RINALDO S. LAKIN.

3. In a folding tooth-brush, the handle A, Witnesses: having receptacle a and recess b, separated by A. I-I. SPENCER,

the partition E, and provided with the spring l S. S. HIGGINS. 

